Iron Giant, The Review

In the town of Rockwell, Maine, in 1957, young Hogarth Hughes lives with his single Mom, a waitress. One night, Hogarth hears strange noises and, on investigating, stumbles across a giant man made of iron who seems to have arrived from outer space. Hogarth and the Iron Man become friends, along with beatnik sculptor and scrap metal dealer Dean - but a nasty government security agent, Kent Mansley, is fanatically determined to destroy the Iron Man... The Iron Giant is proof positive that Walt Disney doesn`t have the monopoly on high quality animation: this excellent Warner Bros animated feature, with a story a bit reminiscent of ET, is beautifully designed and drawn, and carries some pretty positive messages against violence and the use of guns - Charlton Heston would not be amused. Director Brad Bird, from The Simpsons, also includes plenty of jokes about America in the 50s, with its strange attitude towards nuclear warfare and its ferocious opposition to anything or anyone a bit different. This is a quality animation feature for slightly older children.Margaret`s Comments:This is an amiable enough, but oh so formulaic story about a boy who befriends an outsider, in this case an iron monster from somwhere out there in the galaxy, and who is forced to defend his new friend against the gung ho conservatives who can`t appreciate this intrusion into earthly life. I`ve never been a major fan of animated features but looking at the death of family entertainment in cinemas at the moment it`s a cause for elebration that at least there`s something for the very young. The animation is vaguely old-fashioned with a few modern whizz bangs thrown in.